Co-Founder and Board Member

Attorney Velasquez began her professional career as a social worker after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor's in social work. While attending Marquette University Law School, Attorney Velasquez clerked in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court and interned at both Centro Legal and the Appellate Division of the State Public Defender. As a Public Interest Law Student Fellow, she traveled to Santiago, Chile, to intern at the Center for Ethics at the Universidad de Alberto Hurtado. Since graduating in 2010, Attorney Velasquez has worked at Centro Legal as the criminal defense attorney, and in the Appellate Division of the State Public Defender. During her career there, she developed a practice in the intersection of immigration and criminal law and has appeared before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on three occasions.


Her belief that the legal system should be meaningfully accessible to all members of our community, regardless of socioeconomic status, as well as her quest to achieve justice for residents of our community that are under-served and often vulnerable, led her to co-found Civitas Law Group, Inc. She looks forward to continue growing the organization and collaborating with community organizations to reach those in need of legal services.

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Attorney Velasquez recently left active practice at Civitas for the position of legal director of advocacy with Planned Parenthood. She remains an active participant on the Civitas Board of Directors.